Congratulations to our Biological Sciences 2009 Outstanding Alumni: Dr. William H. Phillips.
Dr. Phillips received a B.S. in Biology (Biology Honors Program) from Purdue University in 1978. From here Bill attended the Embryology Summer Program at Woods Hole Marine Biological Labs in 1979, attended the University of Virginia and graduated with his PhD in 1986 and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Genetics at Monsanto Company in 1988. Bill went on to secure a position at Abbott Laboratories, Diagnostics Division later that same year.
During Bill’s first 18 years at Abbott he managed the technical support organization responsible for Pregnancy, Fertility, Thyroid, and Metabolic Immunoassays on various instrument platforms. This group was composed of over 60 scientists with BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Medical Technology. His team supported on-market products and remedied assay problems all over the world, interacting with major hospitals, reference labs, and physicians. They were the first line of defense (aka emergency room) for all biochemical manufacturing problems. Bill’s team designed experiments and executed investigations to resolve these issues and implement appropriate corrective actions.
Today Bill holds the position of Learning and Development Manager and is responsible for implementation of a new, competency-based, learning system throughout the division and globally across all Diagnostic sites. He has also been an active member of the Biological Sciences Alumni Advisory Committee since 2002, and served as the chair from 2004 – 2009.
To Avoid Bird Strikes, Just Tell The Birds To Move
When US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River in January after hitting geese, it turned the spotlight on so-called bird strikes — a longstanding problem of aircraft colliding with birds in flight. Airports try a lot of tricks to keep birds away, but now some researchers are shining light on a possible solution.
Professor Esteban Fernandez-Juricic's role in the research is to study the visual capabilities of the birds. Back at his lab at Purdue University, he'll test their eyes and dissect their retinas.
Understanding how the birds see could help the scientists work toward a recipe for aircraft lighting — including color and pulse rate — that could be used to warn various species of birds. One possibility may lie in ultraviolet lights, because birds tend to have better vision in the ultraviolet range.
"Humans have three visual pigments; birds have four visual pigments," Fernandez says. "And this visual pigment usually is in the UV range, the ultraviolet range. So birds can perceive more colors than humans can."
You can listen to the rest of the story here on NPRClassification of the World's Mammals
Radio interview
Peter Waddell is a phylogeneticist involved in the often controversial area of creating a family tree for mammals. (mp3) 22:00 min.
Researchers find lack of key molecule leads to deafness
Researchers have identified tiny molecules that may lead to big breakthroughs in the treatment of hearing loss and deafness. An international team, including researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel and Purdue University, found that lack of these molecules causes abnormal development of the inner ear and leads to progressive hearing loss.
Donna Fekete, the Purdue professor of biological sciences involved in the study, said this new information could provide promising leads to treat hearing loss.
"The molecules we identified could be used as a molecular tool delivered directly into the ears of deaf people to induce regeneration of important sensory cells that would improve hearing," she said. "The molecules also could potentially help people with balance disorders related to inner ear function such as Meniere's disease." MORE
Biologists learn structure, mechanism of powerful 'molecular motor' in virus
Researchers have discovered the atomic structure of a powerful "molecular motor" that packages DNA into the head segment of some viruses during their assembly, an essential step in their ability to multiply and infect new host organisms. The researchers, from Purdue University and The Catholic University of America, also have proposed a mechanism for how the motor works. Parts of the motor move in sequence like the pistons in a car's engine, progressively drawing the genetic material into the virus's head, or capsid, said Michael Rossmann, Purdue's Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences.
The motor is needed to insert DNA into the capsid of the T4 virus, which is called a bacteriophage because it infects bacteria. The same kind of motor, however, also is likely present in other viruses, including the human herpes virus.
"Molecular motors in double-stranded DNA viruses have never been shown in such detail before," said Siyang Sun, a postdoctoral research associate working in Rossmann's lab.
Findings are detailed in a paper appearing online on Dec. 24 in the journal Cell. The lead authors are Sun and Kiran Kondabagil, a research assistant professor at Catholic University of America working with biology professor Venigalla B. Rao.
"This research is allowing us to examine the inner workings of a virus packaging motor at the atomic level," Rao said. "This particular motor is very fast and powerful."
Movie:Proposed mechanism for DNA packaging by the T4 bacteriophage packaging motor.